Public transport and banking services have been disrupted by sporadic street demonstrations marking the first day of a nationwide strike by Indian trade unions.
The unions are protesting against what they call Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “anti-people” policies.
Trade unions said millions of workers from state-run railways, roads, power stations, coal mining, steel production, oil and telecoms were part of the strike, saying Mr Modi’s policies were affecting “workers, farmers and the general public”.
At least two people were injured as hundreds of protesters tried to halt train services in West Bengal state where cases of vandalism were also reported on Monday. Government workers launched a two-day nationwide strike to press for their demands.
“The government has brought the lives and livelihoods of the entire people and the country’s economy to the brink of disaster … the resistance is against the anti-worker, anti-farmer, anti-people, pro-corporate and anti-national destructive policies,” a statement by 10 central trade unions said before Monday’s strike.
Union leaders said the call to for action had received a “good response”.
The unions have put forth a long list of demands, including the scrapping of labour codes, halting privatisation of state assets while demanding the regularisation of contractual workers.
The unions have also demanded an increase in the wages of workers hired under a government scheme that guarantees at least 100 days of employment in rural India, known as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee.
The strike partially affected the country’s banking system. Employees of state-run banks have stayed away from work over government plans to privatise state-owned financial institutions that are facing an increased burden of failed loans.
Banking chaos
Several banks shut their branches over the 48-hour protest call, disrupting day-to-day work across the country.
Transactions at many public sector banks were hit and cheque clearances were delayed though most private banks operated smoothly.
“We want the government to take effective measures to recover non-performing assets. Sometimes people flee the country and the government is unable to bring them back … then there is the issue of privatisation,” Jaiprakash Sharma, vice president of the All India Bank Employees Association, told The National.
Mr Sharma said the government believes the policies are correct but the strike will affect their assessment.
About 8,000 workers at a government-owned 7.5 million-tonne capacity steel plant in southern Andhra Pradesh state did not report to work, affecting the production at the centre that produces 18,000 tonnes of metal daily.
In neighbouring Kerala state, where the State High Court declared the strike illegal, a majority of government offices remained closed as streets across the coastal state were deserted in the absence of public transport on Monday.
Amerjeet Kaur, general secretary of the All India Trade Union Congress, the country’s oldest trade union federation with an estimated 14.2 million members, said the strike had a “good response”.
In eastern West Bengal, railway tracks were blocked by angry protesters amid several incidents of vandalism, while a huge rush was witnessed on Chennai’s metro services as state-run buses remained off the roads.
Train services across the country remained largely unaffected.
The government had issued advisories to states to ensure essential services such as electricity remained unaffected by the strike but did not comment on unions’ allegations of pursuing “anti-people” policies.
Mr Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party government has been a vocal supporter of the privatisation of state companies, privatising several entities since coming to power in 2014, including Air India, which was bought by Tata Group in January 2022.
Last month, Mr Modi reiterated this policy, saying the “government had no business to do business” while asserting the government’s primary job was to work for the welfare of its citizens.
The government in September launched a four-year National Monetisation Pipeline policy to lease “idle” public assets, such as national highways, gas pipelines, airports and railway stations, to private contractors to generate revenue.
The move triggered criticism from opposition parties and trade unions who claimed the government was “selling” state assets to the private players.
The two-day strike is one the biggest in months and comes weeks after Mr Modi’s party won crucial state elections, victories it said showed public faith in its “pro-people” and “pro-development agenda”.
